Now that the primary Galaxy S7 series has regained its water-resistant powers, one might wonder why we need a ruggedized "active" version. And the answer is that, while the S7 and S7 Edge are some damn fine phones, all that delicately curved and exposed glass isn't exactly what you'd call durable. If the general tank-like construction of the Galaxy S7 Active isn't enough to turn your head, consider that it has almost exactly the same capabilities as its more mainstream brother (which is fairly unusual for rugged phones), plus an even bigger 4000mAh battery.

After playing around with the AT&T-branded phone for a day, I can say that actually using it is more or less the same as having a Galaxy S7 in one of those tough shells. Compared to a naked S7 it feels a bit chunky and heavy, but not unreasonably so - in the hand it only feels a little bigger than, say, the Nexus 5. Considering all the extra toughness that's built into the phone, not to mention that enormous battery, it's some remarkably compact engineering. It probably helps that Samsung has switched to non-removable batteries, so mistakes like an idiot blogger accidentally soaking the internals of his "water resistant" review device aren't going to happen anymore.

Stylistically, the S7 Active is an improvement on the previous models. That's about as much as you can say in its favor: while it gets rid of some of the superfluous grooves and oh-so-tough faux rivets, it's still a phone with a gigantic rubbery bumper stretched to all four corners. The sides are full metal and the single speaker has been intelligently moved to the bottom edge of the device, but the physical nav buttons nonsensically remain. Why make these separate moving parts? Aren't they just one more thing that can break? The central home button gets a fingerprint reader (something the S6 Active omitted), so that makes sense, but the two flanking buttons are just kind of awkward. Like the last Active model, the combined camera flash and pulse oximeter for heart rate monitoring sit next to the camera on the back.

AT&T sent us the green camo version of the phone, which looks predictably awful unless you happen to be deer hunting. The sand-colored version has about the same level of "ugh", while the blue-grey version of the phone at least makes it look like something other than a GI Joe accessory.

The software has the same Samsung skin on top of Android 6.0 as the other Galaxy S7 phones, the same speedy performance thanks to a Snapdragon 820 processor (on the US version, at least - international variants may get an Exynos), the same 4GB of RAM, and the same jumble of sometimes interesting but mostly superfluous extra bits. Samsung has gotten more subtle with its software over the last few years, but AT&T is still pretty terrible with its bloatware. The new integration of DirecTV is particularly lamentable, thanks to an auto-running widget and notification that keeps telling me to connect the phone to the TV receiver that I don't have. You can turn it off, but the fact that it runs on setup really rubs me the wrong way.

The big difference between the standard S7 and the S7 Active in terms of usability is the Active Key, an extra hardware button on the side of the phone that's inherited from the previous Active devices. It looks like a superfluous power button, but you can set it to run three different apps, one by tapping once, one by tapping twice, and one by tapping and holding. It's like a permeant version of that Pressy gadget, except it actually works. The only thing Samsung got wrong is that there's not built-in way to make this a flashlight button - I had to use a handy app from the Play Store to get that functionality.

By default it goes to a custom app called the Activity Zone, a sort of digital Swiss army knife with a barometer, compass, stopwatch, and weather and flashlight widgets, plus a link to S Health. I found this mostly useless, so I've bound the Active Key to Chrome, Play Music, and a flashlight shortcut for single, double, and long presses respectively. The S7 Active also has its FM tuner enabled.

The S7 Active gets an Ingress Protection rating of 68, which means it's more or less immune to dust and dirt and can withstand 5 feet of water for up to half an hour. It's also rated as MIL STD 810G, unlike previous models, meaning that it meets US military requirements for resistance to temperature extremes, humidity, vibration, and shock. AT&T says that the phone's "shatter resistant" screen can take a drop of up to five feet onto a flat surface, though whether that's part of the phone's body design or a function of the particular tempered glass, I don't know. The extra padding on each corner would certainly seem to help.

All in all, the phone is surprisingly polished and powerful for a rugged model, even if the military chic look is a turn-off. The real question is whether the extra protection and bigger battery on the S7 Active are worth the $100 premium over the standard model, since its specifications are otherwise identical. Customers will also be skipping the bigger and more stylish S7 Edge at the same price. I'll take a more in-depth look at that value judgement in my full review. In the meantime if you have any questions about the phone or the software, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer them.

I haven't had a chance to use the S7 for an extended period, but the speaker is about as loud as a single speaker on a phone can get, enough that I can clearly hear the music from across the room if there's nothing else going on. It's a bit tinny and has no bass, but that's about to be expected.

Pilz

Did Samsung do something similar to Moto for their "shatter persistent" display?

Samsung isn't saying what makes the screen shatter-resistant, but if you mean a thick layer of polymer plastic, the answer is no. It feels like regular tempered glass - if something's on top of it or underneath it, it's extremely thin.

Pilz

Interesting; thank you for replying. I wonder if Samsung will post a press release about it.

Rob

If I recall correctly the display does have an additional polycarbonate layer above a toughened aluminosilicate glass (Gorilla Glass 4) layer, AMOLED panel, and digitizer.

Also it has been mentioned that the the screen is designed to be more easily replaced in the event of nicks and scratches.

Howard Stern ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ

serious question, why do you think this phone is getting so much coverage??? I dont get it, its ugly. every site i go to has a couple articles per day on this phone (exaggerating a bit).

Well it's getting a lot of coverage right now because AT&T's PR agency has been sending out review units to coincide with the phone launch. That's their job and they're good at it. Phones that don't get that kind of promotional support don't get the same amount of coverage... usually just because sites like ours can't afford to buy every new Android device that hits the market.

After a few weeks you'll see the same stuff you usually do, periodic software updates, deals, possibly recalls if something goes wrong, et cetera.

Howard Stern ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ

I understand why....it just seems you guys are covering it more than previous Active's. Just wondering if its THAT good of a phone and you guys are really pushing it because you are loving it....or if it has some secret hand that comes out and gives handies on command.

We weren't offered the S5 Active or S6 Active for review. That's pretty much it.

Michael Tran

Is the screen as shatter resistant as the droid turbo 2? I know it has a polycarbonate layer on top but how is it compared to the motorola? My mother in law definitely needs a shatterproof/waterproof phone.

I don't think it's "shatterproof," just shatter-resistant. I wouldn't take a hammer to it, but those reinforced edges and a small plastic bezel that extends above the screen should protect it from anything except a direct impact on the screen itself.

Michael Tran

So will you be putting that Shatter resistance to the test? Samsung wouldn't mind you tossing in a few drops for the review update right? :)

Assuming that the phone unlock policies have remained the same, you should be able to request an unlock code after you finish paying for it. Most pre-installed apps can be disabled, but not completely removed. I assume that the bootloader is locked, like all AT&T-branded Android phones.

Big game

Does it support wireless charging?

"Customers will also be skipping the bigger and more stylish S7 Edge at the same price."

You're saying most will pass the edge for this phone? Am I read that right?

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X-47B

Galaxy A9 Pro - 5000mAh and FHD display.

santy83

unlikely to land in US :(

X-47B

Going to come in EU/Asia. Can't say about US.

Arman

This is better than S7 edge, shame its only for a select carrier in US.

Jonathan

Cot damn that's an ugly phone.

David Martrano

Who cares about the look. The performance that counts.4000 mamp battery now were talking. Let's see what the note 7 has to offer. It it won't be an exclusive to any one carrier. Happy days!!!

atlantadoug

Reviewer couldn't get past he was saddled with the camo green which doesn't go with his hipster hat

Major Sceptic

I like it, would love to see a galaxy note version.

Tony Fischer

My local water company stopped by to change out my water meter today. I asked the installer if the meter needs to be read by a company employee and he stated, "No. It's all done wirelessly. The battery lasts 10 years." Wow! Why can't cell phone batteries do that!

krazyfrog

It seemed damn ugly at first in that gold color in the press images but actual photos of the camo green makes it look kinda good. lol at AT&T exclusivity though.

Beatrice Gatta

In defense of the phisycal buttons... I kinda like them. Sometimes, when the phone freeze or the virtual buttons disappear for some bug, it's always reassuring to know that I can click on a phisycal button and it will be more responsive. It's also faster to just click on a button to open your camera and snap pictures than having to swipe up from the lockscreen or tapping on home and then on the camera icon. It's a matter of mere seconds, but when you witness an accident, or someone is harassing you, or even only when a toddler or pet is doing something cute you can't just go and say "hold on, lemme open the camera app". It would be even nicer if the option to snap a picture was built-in in the samsung app and you didn't need to install a third-party app, but I guess they had problems with the privacy policies etc.
I don't know, maybe it's just that I'm used to clicking buttons, but I really hate having to rely on the responsiveness of a touchscreen for everything. If I could, I would also get a full phisycal keyboard back. A few years ago I bought a S5 active, not because I'm a sporty person that goes hiking, but because I'm very goofy/distracted and I tend to drop everything A LOT. Before smartphones, I used to own nokia phones. I accidentally dropped one of them from the second floor and it was still functioning. Tending to drop stuff also means that I'll drop coffee or hot beverages on my hardware, so I like to equip myself with waterproof/heatproof/shatterproof technology whenever possible. Paying 100€ more for a phone that will survive my goofines for a few years is better than having to buy a new €300 phone every year or having to pay €100+ in phone assistance every few months because I break the glass or soak it in cappuccino or orange juice. I also tend to forget to remove wearables before showering, so I'm always hoping for waterproof wearables to come out. Honeslty it's beyond me why being shockproof/waterproof is not the standard for every device, since we use them for such important things like work or saving our personal information in it. The S5 has survived falling from an ikea raised bed (2+m), my dog stepping on it and clawing at it, and many days at the beach falling in sand. Had I bought a normal phone, I would have had to buy a new one every 8 months.
I'm looking forward to have an active device with marshmallow, but to me the non-removable battery is a bit annoying because it's very handy to be able to just remove the battery when the device freezes and can't be rebooted otherwise. I guess it's a small price to pay for a working waterproofing, but I wonder why can't they just cover the internal circuit with waterproofin material like some other services (see waterfi) do. Too costly?

S7 looks amazing :)
Most of the smartphones supports fingerprint touch ID, But there is no exception for the 6.0-inch vkworld T1 Plus, Vkworld official makes a video to show how to use this function.You can review their latest video on youtube channel :)

Aptech

Nomu S3 is also same like this device the new nomu s30 is really an amazing device recently launched by NOMU Brand which is consists great spec and features,The Nomu S30 is purely waterproof,dust poof and rugged proof phone..For theToughness and IP68 Water-proof Test Collection of Nomu S30 you can see their youtube channel.

Aptech

Nomu S3 is also build like S7 active, The new nomu s30 is really an amazing device recently launched by NOMU Brand which is consists great spec and features,The Nomu S30 is purely waterproof,dust poof and rugged proof phone..For theToughness and IP68 Water-proof Test Collection of Nomu S30 you can see their youtube channel.